Diabetes, cardiovascular disease and autonomic neuropathy have become epidemics in the United States. Tens of millions of Americans live with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and autonomic neuropathy. A majority of these individuals have been living with these afflictions for multiple numbers of years. The loss of productivity and daily activity due to these diseases is substantial. Additionally, it has been estimated that millions of individuals see a physician for treatment of these maladies every year. Additional millions will develop diabetes, cardiovascular disease and autonomic neuropathy in the near future. Thus, our healthcare system is significantly affected by the amount of resources that are allocated to treat diabetes, cardiovascular disease and autonomic neuropathy each year.
The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has increased in recent decades to epidemic proportions. About 150 million individuals worldwide had T2DM in 2000, and this number is expected to increase to—300 million by the year 2025. Because of the chronic course of T2DM and the significant morbidity and mortality associated with the vascular complications of the disease, T2DM has become not only a serious public health threat, but also a heavy economic burden on the health care system. The total annual cost of diabetes care in the United States was estimated to be $175 billion in the year 2007, and this number is expected to increase further with the increasing incidence of the disease.
The association of obesity with T2DM has been recognized for decades, and the major basis for this link is the ability of obesity to engender insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a fundamental aspect of the etiology of T2DM and is also linked to a wide array of other pathophysiologic sequelae including hypertension, hyperlipidemia, atherosclerosis (i.e., the metabolic syndrome, or syndrome X), and polycystic ovarian disease. Insulin resistance carried a greater risk for developing cardiovascular disease than smoking or age or total/HDL cholesterol ratio. There are also grounds for considering the related possibility that insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia, in addition to being caused by obesity, can contribute to the development of obesity.
Type 2 diabetes can progress undetected for many years, causing cardiovascular diseases. By the time patients are diagnosed with diabetes, up to 50% of them have cardiovascular complications. Recent studies indicate that early detection of diabetes cardiovascular complications can decrease diabetic mortality. However, the early detection of cardiovascular diseases is made difficult because symptoms are very often absent in patients. Thus, the detection of insulin resistance, diabetes and cardiovascular complications could be useful in diabetes treatment management and early detection of its complications.
The diagnosis of insulin resistance requires performing of the gold standard hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp (HE Clamp) which is costly, time consuming and inconvenient in routine clinical setting. The diagnosis of diabetes uses the blood tests such as Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG) and Oral Glucose Tolerance Tests (OGTT). Studies demonstrate that FPG has a very low sensitivity to detect Diabetes and OGTT is costly and time consuming (exam duration is from 2 to 5 hours). Similarly, the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases uses EKG, Stress Testing, Echocardiography, Chest X ray, EBCT and other Coronary Angiography. Also, the diagnosis of autonomic neuropathy uses a battery of tests including Ewing tests, heart rate variability analysis, sudomotor function, Nerve conductance study, thermal stimulation and other skin biopsy. There is no gold standard for said tests and the available battery of tests is costly and time consuming.
Therefore, in general, treatment for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and autonomic neuropathy can be more effective if these diseases are diagnosed accurately and early. Currently, however, the approaches available for diagnosing these maladies can be costly, time-consuming, inaccurate and imprecise. Further, there is no diagnostic process for these diseases that takes multitudes of factors into account, such as metadata of sensor readings from the patient. Another problem associated with the detection of said diseases is the lack of a generally-accepted paradigm for diagnosing diabetes, cardiovascular disease and autonomic neuropathy precisely. In the medical field, this leads to a great disparity in how diabetes, cardiovascular disease and autonomic neuropathy are diagnosed, charged and conducted.
Therefore, what is needed is a system and method for improving upon the problems with the prior art, and more particularly for a more efficient and precise way of diagnosing diabetes, cardiovascular disease and autonomic neuropathy.